I am in the process of design and building a customer laser. I have always used 8020 extrusions for prior projects so I am trying to figure out the advantage to switching to Misumi for this project? What are the pro and cons of each brand?

Thanks,BradAvon, OH

Last edited by bway on Fri Apr 13, 2012 9:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Are the parts interchangable ? I have a fair amount of 80/20 stock lying around waiting for its next project. Can you use Misumi fastenings on 80/20 stock and have them work as well As if they were attached to Misumi stock ? The intuitive answer is "yes, of course", but I've been bitten by assumptions before [grin]

Compared to buying 80/20 through conventional distribution, the Misumi aluminum extrusion is easy to buy, but I don't think it's nearly as easy as it should be. Misumi has a 30 minute seminar to tell us how easy it is to use their website to build an order, submit it, get a quote, and finalize the order. And Misumi takes a week to ship an order. I was looking at the aluminum extrusion framework at McMaster-Carr yesterday. It's more expensive than Misumi, and they sell it in 2' increments so I'd almost certainly be cutting it to length myself. But the super easy online ordering and overnight delivery via inexpensive ground UPS delivery from the constellation of strategically placed McMaster-Carr warehouses is almost enough to make me want to order from them instead of Misumi. I guess I'll suck it up and place another Misumi order for my laser frame. If I make enough Misumi orders, their arcane and complex online ordering will probably get to be only a small inconvenience to me... eventually.

Misumi's 30 minute online seminar on their extruded aluminum also bragged about how they offer a lot more options and features and accessories than 80/20, Bosch, etc.

Just thought I would chime in with my more recent experiences with getting quotes.

80/20 does not provide any prices online and it took me a day or so to get an email back with a quote from a regional reseller. I asked about pricing for the extrusion needed to complete the 24x48 laser build viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1990

1.5" x 1.5" extrusion is about $0.40-$0.50 per inch1.5" x 3.0" extrusion is about $0.70-$0.90 per inchFigure $2.00 cut charge per pieceFigure $4.00-$5.00 per connection for bracket/hardware

for their Black Anodized it bumps up a little more

Black 1.5" x 1.5" extrusion is about $0.50-$0.60 per inchBlack 1.5" x 3.0" extrusion is about $0.90-$1.10 per inch

those are around 40mm extrusions

today (10/2/2013) I was looking for the rails required to build a Kossel Mini 3D printer.

Their online cart system is ok but the price shown in the cart can be different than the price you will pay. For instance the cart said the 1000mm item was $10 but their Quote system said $5.20. I called their toll free and it was answered as soon as I pressed 2 for the sale team. The guy who answered suggested I use the quote system if I wanted an accurate price. The quote system online is connected to their inventory system, the shopping cart system uses a sometimes out of date snap shot.

I haven't ordered from either yet, but I think for the ease of ordering and price I will give MiSUMi a try first.

If Misumi had McMaster-Carr's ease of ordering and super fast low cost ground shipping, they'd be perfect IMO. I've been ordering the 80/20 brand extrusions and assorted components from McMaster-Carr lately. It's a bit more expensive than Misumi and the variety is less, but I find it to be worth the price for the small amounts of simple extrusions that I order.

I also am not doing parametric 3D design that will spit out a bill of materials for a Misumi quote that they can cut to length. For my less formal design process, I'm cutting extrusions to length on site as I mostly design as I build, so a lot of the nice Misumi custom cut-to-order service is wasted on me, as are they're fancier selection of framing accessories.

I can definitely see how some would prefer one and others would prefer the other, but McMaster-Carr is working best for me.

Interestingly, Misumi Europe have great low-cost shipping. They fly the parts all the way from Japan to Germany, then re-ship them via UPS, all for €7.50. The ordering system is the same, though -- not the simplest in the world, to say the least.

I ordered from Misumi Friday and Saturday. The prices are great the online process was terrible. No shipping costs given until it is packed and shipped so your at the mercy of whoever does the billing. Every click to navigate opens another window and you are cautioned NOT to use your back button or arrow.

Anytime you need a 30 minute tutorial on how to use our website, something is wrong.

If they would get rid of the antiquated quote system and just do the same as McMaster Carr which is now my favorite order from website. Ok second only to Amazon.

Misumi great product, great prices, great people just hire a good website design company and rule!

I certainly remember how awful I found the misumi webpage, but now I have used it enough that I can appreciate why it is so complex. At least the webpage is consistent so what you learn applies to the entire site.

I've found misumi to be better than 8020 in every regard, but their true strength really is the customization. Cut to length is just the beginning, the list of possible alterations and customized components is enormous. As time has passed I've found cutting and drilling to be far less interesting than other aspects of the hobby. With misumi you can do all the work in CAD and finish the job with nothing more than a hex key.

I do not consider them a mcmaster-carr competitor - I rely on both companies. Misumi has very good pricing and selection for some components but is not as appropriate for the hobbyist market in others.